Browse Articles

The UN Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG 7) on energy access and Goal 5 (SDG 5) on gender equality are inextricably linked. A new study utilizing field-based data from India unpacks how levels of women’s empowerment in households influences their awareness, usage, satisfaction, and preference for energy services.

Metal halide perovskite solar cells have shown promising performance, but mainly on small-area devices and under laboratory conditions. Now, researchers have demonstrated the fabrication of large-area devices assembled and packaged into modules and reported on their operation outdoors.

Nitrogen-coordinated iron catalysts are exciting potential replacements for platinum at the cathode of proton-exchange membrane fuel cells, but still tend to have poor long-term durability. Now, a thin and porous nitrogen-doped carbon film deposited at the surface of a highly active but unstable Fe–N–C catalyst is shown to drastically improve its stability.

All-perovskite tandem photovoltaics hold technological potential yet their upscaling is not trivial. Here Nejand et al. fabricate mini-modules using scalable methods and laser-scribed interconnections, achieving a 19.1% efficiency over an aperture area of 12.25 cm².

Fe–N–C materials are promising oxygen reduction catalysts for proton-exchange membrane fuel cells but still lack sufficient long-term durability for practical applications. Here the authors fabricate an Fe–N–C material with a thin N–C layer on the surface, leading to a highly durable and active catalyst.

Often presented as a bridge technology to a future zero-carbon energy system, natural gas infrastructure expansion remains hotly debated. Here Kemfert et al. discuss recent research to argue how such expansion hinders climate targets and energy transitions and suggest how research can support better planning.

Legal mandates are critical to supporting action on sustainable development goals and climate change targets. Yet, new research highlights the importance of initial endowments for energy transitions, and how they can lead to disparate outcomes across regions.

Efforts to model the contribution of energy demand reductions towards climate targets typically focus at the global scale. Here, Barrett et al. develop an approach for understanding the country-level demand reduction potential and explore options for lowering final energy demand in the United Kingdom.

Next-generation batteries have long been heralded as a transition toward more sustainable storage technology. Now, the need to enable these lithium-ion alternatives is more pressing than ever.

All-perovskite tandem devices are promising due to their high efficiency and low cost but their development is hindered by narrow-bandgap absorbers. Now, researchers combine two large organic cations to improve the optoelectronic quality of narrow-bandgap tin–lead perovskites, enabling single-junction and tandem cells with enhanced efficiency and stability.

There are some concerns that climate change and rapid wind development may lead to a reduction in the wind power capacity factor. Jung and Schindler show that wind turbine fleet evolution can overcome the potential climate change-induced capacity factor decrease.

Controlling the crystallization of perovskite films over large areas is key to the manufacturing of solar cells, but is difficult with existing fabrication methods. Now, researchers tailor the composition of the precursor ink to fabricate uniform and phase-pure perovskite layers, enabling a 15.3%-efficient photovoltaic module with an area of 205 cm².

In a step towards the industrialization of perovskite photovoltaics based on 2D materials, the fabrication of numerous perovskite modules and panels and their integration into a standalone solar farm is demonstrated. Outdoor field tests provide insight into device performance under real-life conditions over 8 months.

High-performance electrolytes are urgently required in the development of reversible lithium-metal batteries that offer high energy densities. Now, a versatile liquefied gaseous electrolyte is demonstrated with inherent safety, temperature resilience, high recyclability, and promising electrochemical properties.

Improved energy access can bring socio-economic benefits, yet these may not be evenly distributed within the household. Zhang et al. conduct a large-scale survey in India and find gender-based disparities in energy services within households.

Lithium-metal batteries offer much promise for high-energy storage but their operation under extreme temperatures is challenging. Here the authors report a temperature-resilient high-performance lithium-metal battery based on a liquefied gas electrolyte that also has promising properties in safety and recyclability.